Travel Card Program
The University’s Travel Card Program was established to provide an option to reduce the out-of-pocket burden for employees, guests, and students who travel on behalf of the university. Additional information about the Travel Card Program is available from the University fiscal policy FI0531 – Travel Cards. This same process is used for requesting a new procurement card. Information about the procurement card is available from University fiscal policy F10530 – Procurement Cards.
Request a New Card
Requesting a new card is a two-part process. First, the prospective cardholder must complete the required training for the card type and pass the questionnaire. Prospective cardholders may search for the Travel Card Training and Questionnaire curriculum in K@TE or via the direct link below.
Travel Card Training and Questionnaire or Procurement Card Training and Questionnaire
Once completed, download the training completion certificate. The certificate is valid for three months and is required to submit a Concur request. Expired certificates attached to card requests will result in the request being returned.
Second, the prospective cardholder must have an approved travel card request in Concur. Log into Concur to request a new travel card at travel.tennessee.edu with your UT NetID credentials with DUO two-factor authentication. Click the + New area of the summary bar or the Requests title in the main navigation to start a new request.
NOTE: A delegate may initiate the card request; however, the prospective cardholder must submit the request.
By default, the Request to Travel form is loaded for all new requests. To request a new card or an increase/decrease to an existing card’s credit limit, change the Request Type to UT Card Request.
The prospective cardholder should enter their full name and verify the pre-populated account information. Click Create Request to proceed.
The Expected Expenses screen will be displayed. Under Expected Expenses, select the Add button.
On the Add Expected Expense screen, select Request a New Card.
The Travel Card type is only used to establish an approved credit limit. This can be adjusted if necessary, using the Increase/Decrease Limit option. You do not need both an individual and group travel card.
Select the appropriate card type under the Type of Card drop-down menu based on the monthly credit limit needs:
- Travel Card: $5,000 monthly credit limit
- Group Travel Card: $15,000 monthly credit limit, to be used by a central cardholder or someone who travels with large groups
- Pcard: $20,000 monthly credit limit; $10,000 single transaction limit
Complete the form with the prospective cardholder’s work mailing address, email, and work phone. Click Save.
NOTE: The work mailing address is where the card will be mailed. An incomplete or inaccurate address will result in cards being returned to the system card administrator and increase the time to receive the card.
Once saved, a reminder alert will appear regarding the work address. This yellow warning alert will not prevent submission. However, the absence of a completed training certificate will trigger a red hard-stop alert.
Click the Attachments drop-down menu to select Attach Documents to upload a valid training completion certificate.
Click the Submit Request button to complete the card request process.
The approval status can be determined by viewing the request and approval progress can be monitored from the Request Timeline available under the Request Details drop-down menu.
Request an Increase/Decrease to Credit Limit
The process to request an increase or decrease to the card’s credit limit is the same as for a new card request until the Expense Type is selected. Requests for an increase/decrease in the card limit do not require retaking the training. Select Increase/Decrease Limits.
On the New Expense: Increase/Decrease Limits screen, select either Permanent or Temporary from the two expense type options, based on the need. Fill in the remaining fields, including a reason for the change to the credit limit. For a permanent limit increase, enter the date “12/31/9999.” For a temporary increase, use the appropriate end date for the current request. Click Save.
When the Increase/Decrease Limits amount and Reason for the new credit limit are entered and the request is ready to be processed, click Submit Request.
Approval Workflow
The submitted new card request will automatically route to the Cost Object Approver, Campus Card Coordinator, and System Card Administrator. The prospective cardholder can track the approval process from Request Details > Report Timeline from the request header. If the attached training certificate is for the incorrect card or has expired, the request will be returned. Once the System Card Administrator approves the Concur card request, the prospective cardholder will receive an email notification detailing the expected card delivery timeline.
The submitted request for an increase/decrease will automatically route to the Cost Object Approver, Campus Business Office, and System Card Administrator.
Receiving a Travel Card
After completing the two-step request process, the System Card Administrator will request the card from Bank of America. New cards will be sent directly to the cardholder for all campuses except UTHSC. Those will be distributed to the Campus Card Coordinator who will communicate directly with the new cardholder to arrange delivery. Most cardholders will receive their new cards in 7-10 business days.
Existing cardholders requesting an increase or a decrease to a travel card will be notified by the System Card Administrator when the increase/decrease is effective.
Once received, the cardholder should activate their card following the instructions provided with the card. The default verification ID for a new travel card is 9 + the 6-digit employee ID number (9123456). The cardholder MUST set a PIN during activation or request one by contacting Bank of America via the number on the card. The PIN can be checked or reset by calling 1-888-233-8855 or by logging into Global Card Access.
If you have questions regarding the Travel Card Program, contact 865-974-2302 or ap_cardadmin@tennessee.edu. If you have questions or need additional assistance utilizing the University’s travel system, please contact travel@tennessee.edu.